
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, January 22, 1994                   TAG: 9401240250
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-2   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: New River Valley bureau
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG                                LENGTH: Short

PATRICK HENRY DRIVE EXTENSION OK'D BY STATE

A $3.5 million plan to extend Patrick Henry Drive between North Main Street and Toms Creek Road has been approved by the Virginia Department of Transportation.

The department's Commonwealth Transportation Board approved the project Thursday in Richmond.

The plan calls for a two-lane roadway nearly a mile long, with a sidewalk on one side and a bike lane on the other. Construction could begin in early 1995.

More than 9,100 vehicles are expected to use the road.

The extension will improve access from North Main to Toms Creek, help ease traffic tie-ups at North Main and Prices Fork, and reduce traffic along Broce Drive to the south, said Adele Schirmer, director of public works for Blacksburg.

A public hearing was held on the project in June, and the Blacksburg Town Council passed a resolution approving it the following month.

by CNB